Bird Food: Homemade or Store Bought? Introduction I choose this question, because I wanted to know if birds had a preference to what they ate. Since there are many different types of bird food, I picked one of the most generic ones, because I wanted to make it as basic as possible, so it would be comparable to the homemade. While researching my topic, I came across an article on Bird Watcher's Digest that listed types of bird food to use. Mixed seed, peanuts, black oil sunflower seed, thistle seed, cracked corn, safflower, fruit, mealworms, and suet were all listed. But number 1 on the list was homemade bird food. That surprised me.
Question Do birds prefer homemade or store bought bird food?
Hypothesis I think that birds will prefer the store bought bird food, because it has more of a variety of seeds and nuts. Also, most people put store bought bird food in their feeders so they may be more use to that.
Variables My independent variable was the types of bird seed, my dependent variable was the amount of bird seed eaten, and my controlled variable the two bird feeders that looked alike. Methods and Materials For 3 days, I will hang outside 2 bird feeders of my house and in one I will put bird food bought on amazon and in the other homemade bird food. Each feeder will contain 20 ounces of bird food.
Ingredients for Homemade Bird Food 1/2 cup sunflower seeds 1/2 cup cracked corn 1/2 cup raisins 1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
Store Bought- 17.13 out of 20 oz. 2.87 oz. eaten Day 2: Homemade- 19.63 out of 20 oz. .37 oz. eaten
Store Bought- 17.9 out of 20 oz. 2.1 oz. eaten
Day 3:
Homemade- 19.31 out of 20 oz. .69 oz. eaten Store Bought- 18.22 out of 20 oz. 1.78 oz. eaten Discussion If I were to do this experiment again, I might want to put the bird feeders in different places, because where I put it may not have been in a place birds went to, because very little food was eaten. My hypothesis was supported, because store bought bird food was eaten more, but I think that was because it was more accessible. From what you see in the graph, the amount of food the birds ate started bigger, decreased, and then increased. That may have been because the weather on day 2 was colder than the other days. Bibliography Thompson, Bill. "Top 10 Foods for Winter Bird Feeding." Foods for Winter Bird Feeding. Try These Ten Foods at Your Feeder. Bird Watchers Digest, n.d. Web. 30 Sept. 2015.
Introduction
I choose this question, because I wanted to know if birds had a preference to what they ate. Since there are many different types of bird food, I picked one of the most generic ones, because I wanted to make it as basic as possible, so it would be comparable to the homemade. While researching my topic, I came across an article on Bird Watcher's Digest that listed types of bird food to use. Mixed seed, peanuts, black oil sunflower seed, thistle seed, cracked corn, safflower, fruit, mealworms, and suet were all listed. But number 1 on the list was homemade bird food. That surprised me.
Question
Do birds prefer homemade or store bought bird food?
Hypothesis
I think that birds will prefer the store bought bird food, because it has more of a variety of seeds and nuts. Also, most people put store bought bird food in their feeders so they may be more use to that.
Variables
My independent variable was the types of bird seed, my dependent variable was the amount of bird seed eaten, and my controlled variable the two bird feeders that looked alike.
Methods and Materials
For 3 days, I will hang outside 2 bird feeders of my house and in one I will put bird food bought on amazon and in the other homemade bird food. Each feeder will contain 20 ounces of bird food.
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup cracked corn
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
__The Ingredients in the Store Bought Bird Food__
White Millet, Black Oil Sunflower, Cracked Corn, Milo, Safflower Seed, Striped Sunflower, Artificial Colors
Results and Data
Day 1:
Day 2:
Day 3:
Discussion
If I were to do this experiment again, I might want to put the bird feeders in different places, because where I put it may not have been in a place birds went to, because very little food was eaten. My hypothesis was supported, because store bought bird food was eaten more, but I think that was because it was more accessible. From what you see in the graph, the amount of food the birds ate started bigger, decreased, and then increased. That may have been because the weather on day 2 was colder than the other days.
Bibliography
Thompson, Bill. "Top 10 Foods for Winter Bird Feeding." Foods for Winter Bird Feeding. Try These Ten Foods at Your Feeder. Bird Watchers Digest, n.d. Web. 30 Sept. 2015.